Environmental Inspiration in Your Own Backyard

Congratulations Mourning Doves! May 14, 2010

I am delighted to announce the hatching of at least one of the mourning dove eggs on my balcony! Baby doves are called “squabs,” and will be in the nest for about 2 more weeks before taking off.

I haven’t checked on them for a few days and I peeked out my bedroom window today to see one of the doves feeding a fuzzy baby! Unfortunately I cannot get a good picture from that window, so you will have to make do with the ones I took from my balcony. I was afraid to scare the dove off the nest to get a good picture because there were some other large birds swooping and hanging around a tree nearby. I thought if I scared the parent one of those birds might dart in to try to get a meal. I have no idea if these fears are justified or not, but for now these photos are all I have. Take note in these pictures of the sad state of my boston fern plant. I was afraid to water it after they built the nest because I thought it might ruin something so the rain is the only real water this plant has had.

As I was walking up to the nest the parent dove stuck its head out the side. I love this picture–it is so confrontational! I imagine this look is saying something like, “Just what exactly do you think you’re doing here?”

I was able to stick my camera towards the side of the nest from a safe distance–you can’t see too much of the baby, but it is underneath the adult:

The young one actually seems to have a fair amount of feathers–I wish I had been more watchful for when exactly they hatched! Look at how puffed up and unhappy the adult is. I left them alone after this, but I am hoping to get some more pictures later. Maybe when the baby (babies?) is a little older they will leave it on its own and I can get a quick photo.

Congratulations to the new parents! All of that sitting through the rain and cold has finally paid off!